Intercept®
Intercept®, formerly known as Youth Villages (YV) Intercept, provides intensive in-home services to children and youth at risk of entry or re-entry into out-of-home placements or who are currently in out-of-home placements (e.g., foster care, residential facilities, or group homes). The program is designed to reduce foster care utilization by providing prevention services to children and their families of origin. For children already in foster care, Intercept aims to reduce time spent in foster care by providing reunification services to children and their families of origin. Family Intervention Specialists use an integrated, trauma-informed approach to offer individualized services intended to meet the needs of children and their families of origin. Specialists address needs identified in children’s schools, peer groups, neighborhoods, and communities. Specialists also support the family in school or legal meetings and are on-call to provide crisis support 24/7. Intercept uses an online resource called GuideTree® to facilitate treatment. GuideTree includes a comprehensive resource library, access to Licensed Program Experts, and supports for developing and reviewing treatment plans.
Intercept is rated as a well-supported practice because at least two studies with non-overlapping samples carried out in usual care or practice settings achieved a rating of moderate or high on design and execution and demonstrated favorable effects in a target outcome domain. At least one of the studies demonstrated a sustained favorable effect of at least 12 months beyond the end of treatment on at least one target outcome.
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed: Jan 2022
Sources
The program or service description, target population, and program or service delivery and implementation information was informed by the following sources: the program or service developer’s website and the studies reviewed.
Date Program/Service Description Last Updated: Jan 2022
This information does not necessarily represent the views of the program or service developers. For more information on how this program or service was reviewed, visit the Review Process page or download the Handbook.
Target Population
Intercept is designed to serve children from birth to age 18 who are at risk of entry or re-entry into out-of-home placements (e.g., foster care, residential facilities, or group homes) or who are currently in out-of-home placements. Intercept is designed to serve children who have emotional and behavioral problems or have experienced abuse and/or neglect.
Dosage
Family Intervention Specialists meet with children and their families of origin an average of 3 times per week. Specialists are also on-call to provide crisis support 24/7. Prevention services typically last 4 to 6 months. Reunification services typically last 6 to 9 months.
Location/Delivery Setting
Recommended Locations/Delivery Settings
Family Intervention Specialists provide services in participants’ homes and in community settings that are convenient for children and their families of origin.
Location/Delivery Settings Observed in the Research
- Home
Education, Certifications and Training
Family Intervention Specialists must have a master’s degree in a related field or a bachelor’s degree in a related field with at least one year of experience.
Specialists are guided by Licensed Program Experts, who are experts in the Intercept model. Family Intervention Specialists work as teams of four to five, with one Supervisor who provides day-to-day clinical and administrative oversight, as well as ongoing training and development for the Specialists.
Family Intervention Specialists complete an initial Clinical Foundations training provided by Licensed Program Experts. Licensed Program Experts also provide weekly consultation to Specialists and their Supervisors to ensure quality work and fidelity to the model. Ongoing training is provided through required quarterly clinical training sessions, field visits with leadership staff, online clinical trainings and resources, and other individualized training through individual staff development meetings. A program model fidelity review is conducted yearly to ensure clinical service delivery is consistent with the Intercept model.
Program or Service Documentation
Book/Manual/Available documentation used for review
Goldsmith, T. (Ed.). (2007). Youth Villages clinical protocols treatment manual. Youth Villages.
Available languages
Intercept materials are available in English and Spanish.
Other supporting materials
Clinical Portal and Consultation Process
For More Information
Website: http://www.youthvillages.org/intercept
Phone: (901) 251-4835
Email: intercept@youthvillages.org
Note: The details on Dosage; Location; Education, Certifications, and Training; Other Supporting Materials; and For More Information sections above are provided to website users for informational purposes only. This information is not exhaustive and may be subject to change.
| Results of Search and Review | Number of Studies Identified and Reviewed for Intercept® |
|---|---|
| Identified in Search | 2 |
| Eligible for Review | 2 |
| Rated High | 0 |
| Rated Moderate | 2 |
| Rated Low | 0 |
| Reviewed Only for Risk of Harm | 0 |
| Outcome | Effect Size
 and Implied Percentile Effect
|
N of Studies (Findings) | N of Participants | Summary of Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child permanency: Out-of-home placement |
0.40
15 |
2 (2) | 91778 |
Favorable:
2 No Effect: 0 Unfavorable: 0 |
| Child permanency: Planned permanent exits |
0.13
5 |
1 (1) | 4029 |
Favorable:
1 No Effect: 0 Unfavorable: 0 |
Note: For the effect sizes and implied percentile effects reported in the table, a positive number favors the intervention group and a negative number favors the comparison group.
| Outcome | Effect Size
and Implied Percentile Effect
|
N of Studies (Findings) | N of Participants | Summary of Findings |
Months after treatment when outcome measured
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child permanency: Out-of-home placement |
0.40
15 |
2 (2) | 91778 |
Favorable:
2 No Effect: 0 Unfavorable: 0 |
- |
| Study 10899 - Youth Villages' Intercept vs. Exactly Matched Comparison Group (Risk of Placement Sample) (Huhr, 2020a) | |||||
| Placement Into Out-of-Home Care |
0.46
*
17 |
- | 88032 | - | 31 |
| Study 12839 - Youth Villages' Intercept vs. Matched Comparison Group (Huhr, 2021) | |||||
| Placement Into Out-of-Home Care |
0.28
*
11 |
- | 3746 | - | 12 |
| Child permanency: Planned permanent exits |
0.13
5 |
1 (1) | 4029 |
Favorable:
1 No Effect: 0 Unfavorable: 0 |
- |
| Study 10899 - Youth Villages’ Intercept vs. Exactly Matched Comparison Group (Likelihood of Permanency Sample) (Huhr, 2020b) | |||||
| Exit to Permanency |
0.13
*
5 |
- | 4029 | - | 7 |
*p <.05
Note: For the effect sizes and implied percentile effects reported in the table, a positive number favors the intervention group and a negative number favors the comparison group. Effect sizes and implied percentile effects were calculated by the Prevention Services Clearinghouse as described in the Handbook of Standards and Procedures, Section 5.10.4 and may not align with effect sizes reported in individual publications.
Only publications with eligible contrasts that met design and execution standards are included in the individual study findings table.
Full citations for the studies shown in the table are available in the "Studies Reviewed" section.
The participant characteristics display is an initial version. We encourage those interested in providing feedback to send suggestions to preventionservices@abtassoc.com.
The table below displays locations, the year, and participant demographics for studies that received moderate or high ratings on design and execution and that reported the information. Participant characteristics for studies with more than one intervention versus comparison group pair that received moderate or high ratings are shown separately in the table. Please note, the information presented here uses terminology directly from the study documents, when available. Studies that received moderate or high ratings on design and execution that did not include relevant participant demographic information would not be represented in this table.
For more information on how Clearinghouse reviewers record the information in the table, please see our Resource Guide on Study Participant Characteristics and Settings.
| Characteristics of the Participants in the Studies with Moderate or High Ratings | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Study Location
|
Study Year
|
Age or Grade-level
|
Race, Ethnicity, Nationality
|
Gender
|
Populations of Interest*
|
Household Socioeconomic Status
|
| Study 10899 - Youth Villages' Intercept vs. Exactly Matched Comparison Group (Risk of Placement Sample) | ||||||
| Characteristics of the Children and Youth | ||||||
| Tennessee, USA | 2013 | Age range: Infant-age 17; 9% Infants, 32% age 1-5, 29% age 6-10, 15% age 11-13, 15% age 14-17 |
77% Unknown 18% White 4% African American 1% Other |
50% Male 50% Female |
100% Children referred to the program by the Tennessee Department of Childrens Services (DCS) with an initial maltreatment report between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2018; 99% Non-substantiated investigation, 1% Substantiated investigation; 60% Parent perpetrator; 13% Sexual and physical abuse; 10% Education issues; 8% Family finance issues; 7% Neglect; 5% Emotional abuse; 5% Family safety issues
; 18% Children referred had developmental/mental health/substance use concerns identified by Family Advocacy and Support Tool (FAST) assessment |
-- |
| Study 12839 - Youth Villages' Intercept vs. Matched Comparison Group | ||||||
| Characteristics of the Children and Youth | ||||||
| Tennessee, USA | 2018 | Age range: 0-17 years; 41% age 0-5, 25% age 6-10, 15% age 11-13, 16% age 14-17, 3% age information missing |
85% Unknown 7% White 5% Missing 3% African American 1% Other |
48% Female 46% Male 6% Missing |
100% Children referred by the Tennessee Department of Childrens Services (DCS) with an initial maltreatment report between July 1, 2018 and December 31, 2020; 70% Parent perpetrator; 14% Sexual/physical abuse; 7% Family finance issues; 6% Family safety issues; 6% Neglect; 6% Education issues; 4% Substantiated investigation; 2% Emotional abuse; 16% Children with developmental delays, mental health, or substance use issues identified by Family Advocacy and Support Tool (FAST) assessment |
-- |
| Study 10899 - Youth Villages’ Intercept vs. Exactly Matched Comparison Group (Likelihood of Permanency Sample) | ||||||
| Characteristics of the Children and Youth | ||||||
| Tennessee, USA | 2013 | Age range: 5-17 years; 44% age 5-9, 25% age 10-13, 30% age 14-17 |
85% White 12% African American 4% Other |
55% Female 45% Male |
100% Children placed in out-of-home care for the first time between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2018; Placement settings: 71% Foster care, 21% Kinship care, 9% Congregate care; Reason for placement: 37% Abuse, 26% Abandonment/neglect, 18% Other reasons, 11% Child behavior | -- |
“--” indicates information not reported in the study.
* The information about disabilities is based on initial coding. For more information on how the Clearinghouse recorded disability information for the initial release, please see our Resource Guide on Study Participant Characteristics and Settings. The Clearinghouse is currently seeking consultation from experts, including those with lived experience, and input from the public to enhance and improve the display.
Note: Citations for the documents associated with each 5-digit study number shown in the table can be found in the “Studies Reviewed” section below. Study settings and participant demographics are recorded for all studies that received moderate or high ratings on design and execution and that reported the information. Studies that did not report any information about setting or participant demographics are not displayed. For more information on how participant characteristics are recorded, please see our Resource Guide on Study Participant Characteristics and Settings.
Studies Rated Moderate
Study 10899Huhr, S., & Wulczyn, F. (2020a). Do intensive in-home services prevent placement?: A case study of Youth Villages' Intercept® program. The Center for State Child Welfare Data. https://fcda.chapinhall.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/YV-Intercept-Results-1-8-2020-final.pdf
Huhr, S., & Wulczyn, F. (2020b). Do intensive in-home services promote permanency?: A case study of Youth Villages' Intercept® program. The Center for State Child Welfare Data. https://fcda.chapinhall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Permanency-YVIntercept-final-982020.pdf
This study was conducted in a usual care or practice setting (Handbook Section 6.2.2)Study 12839
Huhr, S., & Wulczyn, F. (2021). The impact of Youth Villages' Intercept® program on placement prevention: A second look. The Center for State Child Welfare Data.
This study was conducted in a usual care or practice setting (Handbook Section 6.2.2)